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3. Negligible Inventory Carrying Costs / Sold Out Anyway

A side room at the King of Prussia, Pa. store lets customers complete a sale from an Apple computer. Tesla employees may walk the customer through if requested.

Tesla does not say it, but it does save money not having inventory lots full of unsold new cars.

It’s not however that this matters too much at this point, as the Model S has been a hot commodity. Tesla is selling all it can build, some now for export, and customers are still lined up with deposits on file, as Musk says:

“As it is, our Product Specialists could not sell you a car today under any circumstances, as Model S is already sold out several months in advance and there is no inventory on site. All they can do is get you to consider placing a reservation,” Musk said.

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Actually, not to contradict, but the above is not exactly true. Tesla has said it can sell demos from the demo fleet on the spot, but this is a minority of its stock, and buyers must accept slightly used cars as equipped.